News

Moscow Court Acquits Far-Right Leader

(December 12, 2008)

A court in Moscow acquitted the head of Russia's leading far-right
group, which has been linked to racist violence, according to a
December 11, 2008 report by the Jewish.ru web site. The Kuntsevo
district court found Aleksandr Belov, head of the Movement Against
Illegal Immigration (DPNI), innocent of organizing an unsanctioned
meeting. For some reason, Mr. Belov did not face hate speech charges,
despite the fact that a court ordered expertise found that his speech
at the rally "called for hostile action" against Jews and people from
Central Asia and the Caucasus. Mr. Belov still faces charges of
disobeying police orders. In other news posted on Jewish.ru the same
day, DPNI members held an anti-migrant rally in Nizhny Novgorod
calling for mass deportations. As UCSJ reported yesterday, the Moscow
city government granted the DPNI and a prominent neo-Nazi group (the
"SS") permission to march in the center of Moscow during an upcoming
holiday, while at the same time denying non-violent political
opposition forces the same opportunity.